Choose Faith Over Forecasting

I check the weather…often. Lately, that has not been a very encouraging activity, but I bet you check it often, too. At this point, being a meteorologist is an “easy” job; cold and snow on repeat! Anyway, we really want to know what is going to happen so we can plan ahead, dress accordingly, or at least have something to talk about when we run into an acquaintance at Target.

Our deep
desire for forecasts makes me realize how much we long to know what’s coming in
all aspects of life. We want to know where our loved ones are at all times and
how many minutes they are from home. There’s an app for that. We want to know
markers for possible health complications and when they might affect us. There
are tests for many of those things. When we have a baby on the way, most of us
can’t wait to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. There is imaging for
that!

In our lives of faith, we often want to know the future, too. We want to know when our marriages will be healed when our hearts will embrace forgiveness, when our sicknesses will be healed, and when our children will return to the church. We long to forecast the growth of our congregation, its financial security, and even how long our pastors will be at our church.

Friends, most
of our attempts to forecast the future comes from a place of love and care and
sometimes an attempt to be further devoted to God. But despite good intentions,
our forecasting is also an attempt for us to control our lives. That control
belongs to God. The more we try to control, the more anxiety and stress we
create.

We are meant
to exercise faith over forecasting. Faith is found by trusting in what we can’t
see. The Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts and lives. The healing we seek
and the heart-change we long for are in the hands of the one who sent Jesus to
save us. Are we confident enough in Christ to believe that our Lord is at work?

1 Corinthians
15 is the Resurrection chapter. The believers at Corinth were really confused
about Christ’s resurrection and if it even happened. They hadn’t seen it, but
many others had. They longed to know exactly what would happen after they died
and what resurrection had to do with them.

Paul isn’t usually into forecasting things, but when it comes to resurrection, he was confident. We can be, too. “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He’s the first crop of the harvest of those who have died” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Paul reminded
the people in Corinth that Jesus did rise from the dead and since he did, by
faith we will, too. Resurrection is our hope for now and eternity. “If we have
a hope in Christ only in this life, then we deserve to be pitied more than
anyone else.” (1 Corinthians 15:19) No pity necessary. We believe in the
Resurrection!

I think
that’s all the forecasting of our lives that we need, isn’t it? We can live by
faith. We trust that the Holy Spirit is working and we look forward to seeing
what God will do. Today. Tomorrow. Always.

Oh, and
don’t be surprised when resurrection throws you a curve ball. The relationship
that was dead can be brought back to life. The person that was hopeless can be
made new. Friendships that have no future can suddenly lift you up in an
unexpected way. And the job that fired you might lead to the biggest blessing
of all.

Resurrection
wrecks our plans with things that are better than we imagined.

So plan for
retirement, but realize God is our real security. Check the weather, but we
can’t control it anyway. Be mindful of family health trends, but worrying never
changed a thing. And find out if you’re having a boy or girl, but sometimes even
the doctors are wrong!

The worst
thing about checking the weather is you know in advance that your future plans
are going to get ruined. It’s happened to us multiple times this winter. The truth
is, forecasts can result in some rotten moods. Faith is much more fun!

So instead of longing for control, opt for faith. It gives us the best
forecast we can receive; Resurrection through Christ.